1st time detailing

[Dice13]

First off I want to thank everyone for there help and suggestions bar none awesome place.

For everyone new to detailing or wanting to do things the proper way. I was a get the bucket and soap and wash the car and maybe wax it once in a blue moon. If I was lazy take her to the car wash. There will be no more car washes on anything I want to keep nice and keep swirl or scratches to a minimum if any at all. I got a brand new car BMW M3 most I ever spent on a car by far ( not really the point ) and need my baby to stay new looking.

These are the steps I took thanks to Meg's.

I wet her down real good and got my Microsoft mitt ready. I used there rinse bucket method ( actually 3 rinse buckets cause I had no grit guard) I still think I will stick with 2 rinse buckets just to be sure to have a cleaner mitt when I get my grit guard. I dried her down with care. After I had her all cleaned and dried she was still shiny and smooth being car was only a week old an my dealer did a good job in detailing her. Then off to the next step I went.

I clayed her ( which I was weary rubbing this clay ( play dough lol ) all over my week old car being car looked good to begin with. I can't tell you enough times how great the car felt after clay process just fabulous. Meg's had a great QD clay kit just awesome. I used some Meg's swirl x just in two spots that had hair line swirl which worked great,again worried about rubbing my new paint with something but these guys that detail there cars on this Meg's forum really know what to do.

Then off to. Megs #7 glaze a pure Polish followed by a paste wax Meg's #27. Let me tell you there's not a piece of glass that feels the way this car feels smoother then glass and slippery as anything. The shine is amazing. I just felt I needed to post this after all the help I got and how impressed I am. I just need a machine to help remove the wax next time. Thanks for all your help.

[Dice13]

Re: 1st time detailing

Sorry it was #26 yellow paste wax.

[J. A. Michaels]

Re: 1st time detailing

Congrats. you are on your way to becoming a detailaholic,lol.

seriously, glad everything worked so well for you. Sounds like the results exceeded your expectations. That is great.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 1st time detailing

Thanks for sharing your story - sounds like you did quite a job on the new car! Good for you, and we hope you found the experience fun and rewarding and that you plan on continuing along this route in the future.

One little point, however......

I just need a machine to help remove the wax next time.

..... this tells us you may well have applied the wax much heavier than you needed to. M26 should wipe off very easily if a properly thin coat is applied. But this is also one of the things new users struggle with - applying a truly thin coat of wax. Once you get the hang of it you'll be amazed at how easily it comes off.

[Dice13]

Re: 1st time detailing

Thanks for sharing your story - sounds like you did quite a job on the new car! Good for you, and we hope you found the experience fun and rewarding and that you plan on continuing along this route in the future.

One little point, however......
..... this tells us you may well have applied the wax much heavier than you needed to. M26 should wipe off very easily if a properly thin coat is applied. But this is also one of the things new users struggle with - applying a truly thin coat of wax. Once you get the hang of it you'll be amazed at how easily it comes off.

Thanks guys just wanted everyone to know I was weary about claying and using an abrasive product on a brand new car that allready looked and felt great that I am in love with and did not want to mess anything up. The claying was better then awesome and made the car feel so soooo smooth. Maybe I put the wax on thicker then I should have but wanted to make sure I did not miss any spots.I just rubbed the pad in the paste and started putting it on car. It sure did not seem like it was going on so think.

Would an orbital polishing buffer make things simpler putting on and taking off the wax. My auto store has one does 30 bucks seem like its good enough. I think its a 10 inch one they also had a 6 inch one 25 bucks. Is this all I would need.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: 1st time detailing

You could use one of those low power orbitals for applying wax, but since you're using a paste wax it's a bit tricky to get it from the can onto the pad. A small spatula works pretty well for that, though.

When using a paste wax, after your first application the can should literally look like you didn't even touch it if you applied it properly thin. A buffer can make spreading wax in a thin and uniform coat a very easy task, and subsequent wipe off by hand should be a snap after that.

What you need to keep in mind is that no matter how heavily you apply any wax, only so much will actually bond to the paint and be left behind. The heavier you apply it the longer it takes to dry, the harder it is to remove, and the more product you basically just waste. It can sound a little weird to new users at first, but no weirder than the thought of rubbing a piece of clay against your paint!